Trapped on a Terrifying Island, This Good-for-Nothing Just Wants to Survive

1.

In the dimly lit guest room, Mikagawa groaned in pain as he rubbed the back of his head, realizing he had drunk too much and was now at Duanmu Pavilion. Struggling to find the light switch, he groped his way to the bathroom.

At the same time, Genji, who had secretly snuck out, hurriedly climbed back through the window and onto the fold-out bed. He was startled by Mikagawa’s sudden movements and worried that his nocturnal escapade had been discovered. But Mikagawa seemed disoriented and didn’t notice anything amiss, soon falling back to sleep.

The night in Cicada Hidden Town was eerily silent, punctuated only by a high-pitched ringing that was almost painful to hear.

Genji spent a sleepless night, his mind swirling with thoughts. When he finally dozed off in the early morning, he was plunged into a chaotic, illogical dream.

In the dream, he was a child, running from place to place with his parents, from cities to villages, plains to mountains, from developed countries to primitive lands. He grew taller and faster, eventually breaking free from his parents’ grasp.

“Genji! Run! Don’t look back!” an explosion forced him to turn around.

His mother’s chest was torn open, her heart shattered. His father became a shadow, embedded in a pile of bones pointing towards a certain direction.

As Genji prepared to run in the indicated direction, his grandparents pulled him the other way. Suddenly, a bizarre stairway appeared, made of giant bones and DNA helices.

As the land collapsed around them, they climbed desperately. Upon reaching the top, a giant hole tore through the sky, revealing a massive golden pillar of light.

The elders, as if possessed, stripped naked and leaped into the light, disintegrating into a pool of foul-smelling pus upon contact.

The pus flowed down the pillar, mingling with the bones and fragments on the ground, creating a churning sea of blood around Genji’s stairway.

Suddenly, dark red, wedge-shaped stones rose from the blood sea, growing rapidly like bamboo shoots after rain, encircling Genji in a forest of blood-colored monoliths.

Genji cried for help, but the air grew thin in the darkness. Just as he was about to faint, the sound of unsheathing blades echoed outside. The stone forest cracked and collapsed.

The dawn broke, dispersing the darkness. A pair of delicate hands gently wiped his tears. Whose hands were they?

When Genji awoke, it was late morning. He found a note from Mikagawa: “It’s Sunday, so I didn’t wake you. I had to leave early. Mikagawa.”

But the day was far from uneventful. The harrowing nightmare was a warning.

2.

Genji rushed to the Cicada Hidden Town police station to inquire about his father, but they claimed inability to help, as the island’s affairs were beyond their jurisdiction.

“I’ve reported this before. Weren’t you supposed to transfer it to the appropriate jurisdiction?”

“You must have called the wrong number. We never received such a case. In short, we can’t do anything about off-island matters,” the middle-aged officer said dismissively, lighting a cigarette and returning to his tea and newspaper.

Seeing Genji’s desperation, a young officer named Kurayama sympathetically explained, “There’s no use. Ye Island is a classified research base, covered by a huge invisible shield. We’re just low-level officers without any authority to contact the outside world. I haven’t spoken to my family in years.”

“How can this be…”

“I’m not sure if it’s a ‘local network’ or something, but islanders can only communicate internally. Outsiders can see previously loaded messages but can’t receive new updates from outside the island, even with full signal strength. So maybe there’s nothing wrong with your father, and you just can’t reach each other.”

Genji remembered Professor Kanazawa’s ghost and god tales, but nothing about a signal shield. He replayed the strange warnings in his mind, his heart racing.

“Be careful with that headset. Your brain is exposed.”

“Stay here from 7 PM to 5 AM. Don’t go to Cicada Hidden Town. It’s an unbreakable rule.”

“It’s not safe at night. I can pretend nothing happened, but others might not… Go back, and don’t sneak out again.”

Those were the mysterious girl’s words.

“Next time you see her, could you stay away? Don’t get close to the Kamibe Clan. They bring misfortune.”

“Don’t ask why, just do it. I don’t want to lose another roommate.”

“Read more, from different perspectives, to avoid being deceived. Some things can’t be avoided. If you don’t seek them out, they will find you.”

Mikagawa’s advice hinted at complexities Genji couldn’t understand.